While I was in Oregon working on the house, Doug would ask me, "Mom,
are you having any fun yet? Taking a day off?" The answer was always
"NO". In Calaveras County, our community is so lopsided and still in
shock with 547 families burned out. Displaced people with their lives on
hold, their future uncertain. My friend, Nancy Stehura told me about a
benefit dinner for fire victims at Prospector Brewing Co. on Main St.
Murphys. Nancy told me on the phone, "I know so many people who would
love to have YOUR problems." Touche'
So Jan and I decided to stop and smell the roses, put any personal issues aside and go have dinner.
We left her place and the sky above was a painting of puffy orange clouds.
At
the Prospector Brewing Company, we told the bartender we had come for
the benefit dinner. He said, "We don't serve dinner here. We aren't
having a benefit dinner." The big question mark was on my forehead, how
could this have happened two nights in a row? He pointed to a bin on the
bar asking for lightly used clothing for fire victims. He handed us a
beer and wine menu with a list of appetizers we could order. So, we
ordered a drink and a bucket of unshelled peanuts.
The
band set up and got going. If the sign on the wall is correct, they are
the Samba Breeze and there was a donation box set up to benefit Jules
and Sean Koopman. Hmm.
Not
long after, Nancy arrived with about seven families who had burned out
in the same neighborhood. The young girl and her mother, and the woman
in blue, who I met later, Sue Koopman, burned out. Sue got up and made a
speech from the band stand to support fire victims with donations. I
couldn't hear. In fact, sitting next to each other, Jan and I shouted
our conversation over the music. But we got the gist of things and put
money in the box and many other patrons did the same.
My
friend Nancy with her son. He is so tall, she fits under his arm. He
burned out in Mountain Ranch and is bunking in with his mother in San
Andreas, temporarily, part time. Someone, I think it was Nancy, told me
the ground was heated with the fire, the rains came and bulbs that
normally bloom in the spring, are now poking shoots up through the
ashes.
Jan
having a conversation with Sue, about the level of devastation, and the
difficulty of finding places to rent, especially if people have pets.
Jan offered her acreage to place a trailer on and the offer was
accepted. Sue knows someone who does massage and Jan has a table in her
house. I'm cogitating how I can do the same thing. The trouble for most
of the victims, is their jobs and connections are on the far side of
the county, or like Sue, in Amador County. Too far to drive everyday.
Sue
and her partner, Danny, whose last name I didn't catch, have decided
they are going to accept a Fema trailer and stay on the property and
rebuild. Danny has a place in Hawaii, where they could move, but, they
want to rebuild. It's the hard way, but we are so grateful that families
are staying. There is another benefit coming up for 5 firemen who lost
their houses while they were fighting to save their neighbors.
Yes, it really is time to stop and smell the roses, be thankful, and find the green shoots coming up in our lives.
